Exploring Life & Business with Jen Buck of Synergistic Training Solutions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Buck.

Hi Jen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always been gutsy. Growing up, I was surrounded by boys. Lots and lots of boys. All of the women in our family had sons, with the exception of me. I was regularly at the bottom of that testosterone-filled, rambunctious heap. The reality is, in order to survive those seven boys I HAD to be gutsy. Teachers, authority, and society at large didn’t love it, but it’s who I was and it eventually served me well.

I remember going to a women’s conference during my freshman year of college and watching these remarkable female Speakers transform the hearts and minds of 3, 500 women in the room. I was one of those women and I was forever changed. I knew that I was meant to be on stage motivating and teaching, and it struck me at 18 years old. I went back to college and my job as a waitress and told every customer that sat at my tables that I was going to be a Motivational Speaker. A few months later, I had a woman who worked for a global and award-winning billion-dollar startup sit down at my table and offer me an interview for a job. I would eventually stay with that extraordinary company for 10 years as a Corporate Trainer.

Being in that fast-paced and constantly evolving environment has served me incredibly well throughout my career. I was given the opportunity to become an 8x Master Certified Trainer and 3x Certified Coach from that organization, which is what I have utilized to build my business for the past 20+ years. I spent 7 years on the women’s conference circuit and eventually built a business working with organizations to build their leadership teams. I have a business, 6 books, a nonprofit, a TV show, and a podcast to thank that gutsy kid for.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. As a corporate trainer, my job is greatly impacted by the economy. When there is a crash or downturn, the first thing that corporations cut is their corporate training. I’m sort of the cherry on top of the budgetary cake. Sadly, when we look at it from a 35,000-foot view, the employees are struggling at home, because their personal and family economy is impacted, and then the motivation and development from the organization is taken away. Often companies don’t realize this until there is a dip in morale and output. Great companies, keep developing and investing in their people, but it certainly can make it challenging for the Corporate Trainer who is utilized contractually.

Covid posed another challenge, but I was able to pivot quickly to virtual learning. I had a lot of corporate clients who were needing training, but their budgets and earnings were at risk during that time. I offered every client I have free events online for the entirety of 2020. These companies had invested in me for the last two decades and it was time for me to return the favor to them during the lockdown. I’m proud of the decision I made that year.

We’ve been impressed with Synergistic Training Solutions, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Having now been a Professional Speaker for 24 years and a Corporate Trainer for an additional ten, I’ve given over 10,000 programs in front of audiences as large as 25,000 people, impacting over a million professionals throughout my career. Partnering with the biggest brands in the world, I help to develop their high-performing leaders through keynotes, training, and coaching. We often hear people wonder about whether leaders are born or made– I can definitively say that great leadership is taught. Outstanding leadership matters and inspiring action is what I do best.

I specialize in leadership development and management training. I bring relevant and cutting-edge information that is delivered with my fun and funny cadence that people love, along with a very fast pace. I have eight master trainer certifications, allowing for 100+ courses that I can train. Training should be fun and increase people’s energy… It’s time to ditch the idea that training is a drag. Or, ditch the boring consultants, who actually are a drug. Either way, training should elevate your people and make them feel unstoppable. That’s what I’m committed to.

I am also well-known for providing presentation skills training and coaching to executives. We live in a world where thought leadership and expertise are valued highly, which means that our executives need to fine-tune their presentation skills so they can make an impact on the world stage. Many leaders are being asked to give presentations at large global events, and it’s important for them to influence, intrigue, and impact their audiences.

Stumbling around and being bored is not a risk that executives are willing to take. I love being a part of their transformation and success. My clients include some of the largest global brands in the world, including Coca-Cola, Walmart, NASA, Mercedes-Benz, Google, McDonald’s, Yale University, Square, Johnson & Johnson, Honda, Capital One, Boeing, Verizon, HBO, Stanford University, Kraft Heinz, General Dynamics, and the Department of Defense… just to name a handful.

I also work with executives right here in Phoenix who are in our local universities, city, county, science, aerospace, casino, associations, and grocery industry. While I travel a ton for work, it’s fantastic to jump in my car and work with some of the brightest minds in our incredible city.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I have two pieces of advice that I would give to anyone who is looking to work in the talent development space: learn everything you can and learn to do everything on your own.

To be a Trainer, you need to have a natural love for learning. You have to be constantly taking in new information through reading, listening, and watching, along with going to different types of learning events and courses. In order to have your finger on the pulse to train others, you have to be 100% committed to learning and using these things yourself. I will also emphasize that it’s important to be trained or coached by someone who is actually doing the job every day, not just talking about it. I am currently the Chief Communications Officer for an organization and on the leadership staff for a global women’s org where I lead 15 directors and 30,000 women daily. While I speak from stages about leadership, I’m also doing it every day. When I coach presentation skills, I can show that I’m on stage weekly in front of massive audiences. Learn from people who are doing it… and learn constantly.

My second piece of advice is that you need to learn to do everything yourself in your own business. While I’m not saying that you’ll do all of those things forever, it’s important that you know how to work every inch of your own business. I scaled quickly when I started working and contracted out all of the details that I felt were better tasked to someone else. When the pandemic hit, I couldn’t afford to have someone update my website, create my sales assets through desktop publishing, manage my client lists and newsletters, and do my outbound sales. These were all critical to my business running and I was in a very tight spot. So, I had to spend hours and hours a day learning to do everything myself and I now look at all of my tech talents as superpowers. Commit to knowing every inch of your business and being able to do it all yourself. You’ll thank me for that one.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jenbuckspeaks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenbuckspeaks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenBuckSpeaks
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jenbuckspeaks
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/JenBuckSpeaks
• Other: https://sociatap.com/JENBUCK/

Image Credits
Miranda Harper Photo